The Remote
by Arogustus
Summary: An enjoyable night of wrestling is in danger when no one can find the remote. Meanwhile, two ghosts watch a telenovela together.


**A little apology gift for the late chapter. Enjoy.**

**Luigi's Mansion is owned by Nintendo.**

* * *

"TWE! TWE! TWE!" The triplets chanted as they, along with Kruller, Serpci and Johnny, entered the 5th floor lounge. They were here to do one thing, and one thing only: watch the latest wrestling match between the Toad Hammer and his nemesis, the Toadinator! And they would be watching this match on the lounge's newly installed flat screen tv (brought to you by E. Gadd Electronics Ltd.!)

Johnny put down the wide assortment of snacks on the table in front of the couch, calling everyone's attention to him as he stood in front of the tv.

"Alright dude and dudettes, we all know exactly how the fight is gonna go tonight. But, just to be fair and junk, we're gonna be making bets on who's gonna be the winner of tonights grudge match." He slammed several paper bills on the table. "I got my money on Toad Hammer. Dudes built like a truck _and _he's got the winning streak to prove it. He's gonna take Toadinator down, no sweat."

Kruller threw some money next to Johnny's the pile. "Sorry buddy, but you forget what the whole thing is called. Toad Wrestling Entertainment. They air some of the most awesome fights on tv. The Toadinator is an underdog, and everyone loves a good underdog story. Therefore, him winning is gonna make it the best fight in the history of the series!"

Serpci threw in her bet on Kruller's pile. "I agree, the story of the underdog is always the most spectacular of all. Besides, Toadinator has proven time and time again that he is incredibly skilled in the art of wrestling. He's victory is a foregone conclusion."

Nikki and Lindsey threw in their share as well, in their case on Johnny's side. "Well let me just say you guys are being stupid." Nikki bluntly pointed out. "You remember how Toadinator got his butt kicked in his fight against the Toadbreaker, right? Guy got his butt kicked six ways to Sunday in that one. Clearly you guys can't see a winner when they show him piledriving a guy with one arm."

Nikki was shoved aside by Lindsey. "What Nikki was _politely_ trying to say is that we simply think Toad Hammer has a higher chance of winning. Isn't that right _Nikki_?!" She glared at her sister, who simply shrugged in disinterest. It was then that they realized they were missing one sibling, Ginny, who they now noticed was sitting next to Kruller and Serpci.

"What are you two looking at? You guys know I love underdog stories, right?"

"Traitor!"

"Well whatever side were on," Kruller floated between the feuding sisters. "the only way we're gonna find out who wins… is by watching the fight." Everyone nodded in agreement at Kruller's statement as they all took a seat on the couch. Kruller started rummaging around his side to find a particularly important device. "Alright, now all we gotta do is turn on the tv with… the… remote…" He slowed down his rummaging, and he turned towards the other ghosts who were staring at him curiously.

"I can't find the remote."

There was a brief moment of silence as the ghosts processed what Kruller had told them…

They all immediately started ransacking the lounge for the remote. Johnny raised the couch off the floor to look underneath it. The triplets rummaged inside every desk and drawer they could find, while Kruller dived underneath the carpet. Even Serpci, a ghost well known for keeping her cool in stressful situations, was panicking as she dove into the floor, trying to see if someone had accidentally fazed the remote underneath the floor.

Alas, their search was fruitless, and they grouped back up together in front of the tv.

"Ok, ok everyone, let's not- let's not panic! Yes, the remote is missing, but that's not- it shouldn't be a problem! We can still turn on the tv _on _the tv itself." Kruller explained as he and the other ghosts started to examine the television for the On button. Unfortunately, they couldn't make heads or tails about the flatscreens design. They simply couldn't see an On button on the thing.

The chubby mall cop ghost started to hyperventilate, panicking as he realized what the lack of an On button meant for them "We're gonna miss the show. We are going, to miss, the show!"

"Calm down, Kruller! We will all get through this!" Serpci, clearly as panicked as the mall cop, tried to reassure him.

"There's only one logical explanation for this!" Nikki slammed her fist into her hand. "Someone stole the remote! I say we go look for that person and lock him in E. Gadd's ghost holding thingy!" Nikki tried to float away towards the door, only to be held back by her other sisters. Despite her violent suggestion, everyone did agree with her on something.

"Ok, punishment aside, Nikki has a point. The only way the remote could have disappeared is if someone took it out of the room." Ginny pointed out.

As everyone tried to think about who would be evil enough to steal the remote, Johnny took notice of something that could help save their night. "Maybe that could help?" Everyone looked at where Johnny was pointing: the lounge security camera!

"The camera could have caught the remote thief! Johnny you're a genius!" Kruller cheered, while Johnny puffed out his chest in pride at the compliment.

Serpci clapped her hands together, getting the attention of her fellow ghosts. "Alright everyone, we need to coordinate. Lindsey! What was the schedule of the fight again?"

"Their's going to be a twenty-minute recap of the Toad Hammer and Toadinators fighting history, followed by a commercial break, and then the fight!"

"That gives us twenty-five minutes to look for the remote! We can afford to miss out on the recap. Kruller!" The mall cop straightened his posture and stood at attention. "You and the triplets will investigate the security footage. Find that remote as soon as possible. Johnny and I will remain here and try to figure out how to turn the television on ourselves. Is that clear?"

Kruller gave her a salute. "Come on kids," He turned towards the triplets, pulled out his sunglasses and put them on, adopting a gruffer tone of voice. "we have a case to solve." He combat rolled out the door and into the hallway, intent on making his way towards the elevator that way. A crash was heard from outside the room, followed by a quick "sorry Stewy" from Kruller. The triplets, for their part, simply shrugged as they dove into their hats and shuffled their way out the door.

The pharaoh and the swimmer both turned towards the tv, making sense of its design in hopes of finding the On button.

* * *

The door to the camera room was slammed open as Kruller and the triplets entered. They all rushed to the console and started looking for the 5F lounge camera. Once they found it, Kruller turned towards the girls.

"Ok kids, this is how things will go. We rewind the camera until we find the person who stole the remote, locate the person, get the remote and report back to the lounge for the wrestling match."

"And when that's done, we flush the culprit through one of those "out of order" toilet's as punishment!" Nikki fumed in anger.

Ignoring her outburst, they all watched as Kruller rewound the camera feed. After a few seconds of rewinding, they stopped when they saw their first suspect: Clem.

"I knew it! He's the criminal! Let's get him" Nikki almost flew out the room, only being held back by Ginny.

"Calm down, kid! We gotta look over the footage to make sure it was him. We'll just end up wasting time if we go after him now." Kruller told the enraged triplet.

Nikki simply huffed as they all took a look at the security feed, watching as Clem scratched his stomach while eating a bag of chips.

* * *

Back in the lounge, Serpci was running her hand by the back of the flatscreen, trying to feel for a button of sorts. Johnny spent his time looking around the lounge, trying to see if they had somehow missed the remote in their desperate search. As the queen was feeling around, she felt an odd shape, and praying to the gods above, she pushed on the shape.

The shape made a clicking noise and Johnny and Serpci watched in awe as the tv flared to life.

"Woohoo, we did it!" Johnny cheered while Serpci gave him a look of incredulousness. She dropped it however to look at the tv screen clear up to reveal… a title card saying, "La Casa de Guadalupe".

"Dangit, it's on the wrong channel! Look around again, maybe there's a button for changing it."

"Why don't you actually help me look for it instead of leaving it up to me?"

"Come on, man, you know I could crush the thing with my awesome finger strength."

The pharaoh could only huff in anger as she started to look again…

Only to take a look at the screen when she started to hear the dialogue coming from the channel.

"_Guadalupe! ¡¿Acaso nuestro amor no te importo nada?!"_

They watched as the man in the scene was laying on the floor, staring fearfully at the well-dressed woman who had a weapon aimed at his head.

"_Lo siento Romero, pero tuve que escoger entre mi carrera, o tu."_

Guadalupe took aim at Romero as she put her finger on the trigger.

"_Y mi carrera gano."_

The scene was interrupted by the title of the show. Serpci and Johnny could only stare dumbfounded at the scene, trying to understand the context behind the whole thing.

"Johnny… what on earth was that?"

"I think it was one of those Spanish telenovela thingies or whatever."

They both kept staring at the screen. At some point, Serpci remembered what she was doing and started looking for the button again…

Only for another scene to come up again, gaining both their interests.

The scene took place in a house as an old woman was sitting in her rocking chair. The woman looked up as Guadalupe entered the scene.

"_Mi Hija! ¡Escuche todo! ¡Que paso entre tu Y Romero?!" _The woman asked Guadalupe.

Guadalupe simply grabbed a cigarette from a cabinet and started smoking it.

"_Tuvimos una… discusión entre nosotros."_

The old woman simply slammed her fist on the table next to her in anger, clearly not fooled by her daughters lies.

"_No me mientas! ¡Yo sé exactamente que paso! ¡Que hiciste con Romero!"_

The scene once again shifted to the shows title. They must really like cliffhangers.

Their interest in the shown having grown after watching that scene, the two ghosts both sat down on the couch. They _had _to find out what was going on, even if they didn't understand what they were saying on the show.

* * *

Fifteen minutes of rewinding the security feed, and still no sign of the remote thief. All that they saw before Clem was Dr. Potter watering one of the plants in the lounge; Amadeus arguing with Macfrights about something; Macfrights stabbing one of the couch cushions while Fishook cheered him on in the background, and Gloria snoring away on the couch. At no moment did they see any of them grab the remote, or really a sign of the device at all.

"Can't you rewind any further back? Maybe someone entered the room while Miss Gloria was sleeping?" Ginny inquired to Kruller.

"I could, but that's a full week of footage to go through. We don't have enough time to look anymore. Unless we had an actual date and time to rewind to, I don't think we'll be able to make the show." Kruller slumped over in defeat, sadness visible in his face.

Ginny started hesitating on something, turning towards her sisters and nodding towards the depressed Kruller. Nikki simply shook her head no, while Lindsey hesitated for a few seconds. Something was weighing on their minds, and it had something to do with the DJ.

Lindsey huffed to herself, floated over towards Kruller and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. When the mall cop turned towards them, Lindsey revealed their secret. "Mister Kruller, could you look at Wednesday, 10:30PM?"

He complied to her request and worked at locating that specific time of the footage. After a few seconds, he came upon the scene of an unconscious Gloria…

And the triplets giggling to themselves as they shoved things inside her wig.

Kruller gave the kids a small glare, silently urging them to explain.

"Ok, we can explain! Ever since miss Gloria passed out from that weird coffee she drank, I, and I alone hatched a hilarious prank were we would stuff things into her hair, and after she woke up, we would show up at random moments and pull out random things. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I guess the wrestling show was more important than our prank." Nikki explained everything, glaring at her sisters when she finished her explanation. They glared back at her in response.

Kruller looked over the footage, seeing the triplets take things from a pile of random objects on the table and shoving it inside Gloria's wig. They put in things such as fruit, toys, a strange looking tube with Dr. E. Gadd's logo on it, one of Wolfgeists wigs, and other random things.

They all focused on the image as they saw Nikki put her hand in the pile while still looking at the DJ's wig. After a few seconds of rummaging…

She pulled out the tv remote and stuffed it in Gloria's wig, none of them noticing what it is that they had shoved in.

Everyone turned towards Nikki, glaring at her as she started twiddling her thumbs.

"Ummmm… I plead the 5th?" She smiled awkwardly.

"There's no time!" Kruller checked the time on his watch, gasping in shock at how little time they had left. "We only have five minutes until the fight starts. I know where Gloria is. Follow me!" He jumped out of the chair and started rolling out of the room. They heard another crash, and another "sorry Stewy" from Kruller. The triplets jumped into their hats as well and started following the officer ghost.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the lounge, Serpci and Johnny were staring at the tv, completely entranced by the show they were watching.

The scene was that of an underground parking lot, with the standard flickering lights and encroaching darkness. In front of one of the pillars stood a lone man, hands in his pockets as he looked around for someone.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from somewhere, and the man turned towards a particularly dark area. Out of the shadows came a man, walking with a limp. He emerged fully from the shadows and revealed himself… the man was Romero, with a large bandage over his left eye!

"Holy crap, he's alive!"

"Shush, he's speaking!"

"_Tú tienes lo que busco?"_

The man by the pillar pulled a briefcase out of his jacket, unlocked it, and opened it in front of Romero. The camera zoomed in as he stared at the contents of the briefcase, which were hidden from the audience.

The scene once again shifted to the title of the show, leaving out on another cliffhanger.

"I should be annoyed by all of these interruptions. But right now, I still want to find out what this Guadalupe woman is planning."

"Yeah, this stuff is really addictive."

They both stopped talking as the show started up again.

* * *

Gloria was humming a little ditty to herself as she floated down the hallway, going nowhere in particular. She stopped when she heard someone shout her name.

"Gloria! Stop!" She turned around to see the owner of the voice, Kruller, float towards her. He was soon followed by the triplets, who looked just as tired as he was.

"Woah, slow down! What has got you guys in such a rush?" She asked them.

"We need your wig, miss Gloria!" One of the triplets, whichever one the one with the ponytail was, asked her. Gloria immediately got on the defensive.

"Heck no! Why the hell would I do that?!"

"The triplets hid stuff in your wig." Kruller explained once he regained his breathe. "She hid the lounge tv remote in there by accident and we only have four minutes until the big fight starts!"

Once she understood what they were after, Gloria allowed them the chance to check out her wig. The triplets dug their arms into the thing ad started digging around, pulling out random odds and ends and throwing them on the floor. After a few seconds, Lindsey smiled as she pulled out the remote and raised it over her head, allowing it to be bathed in angelic light.

"We found it!" They all shouted in unison, and they all rushed towards the elevator, yelling a quick thanks to the DJ. She also heard a crash from beyond the hallway, followed by a quick "sorry Steward" from everyone.

The DJ simply shrugged and started humming to herself again, taking a moment to dig around in her hair to see what else was inside. She pulled out a banana, pumped her fist in happiness and peeled it away to start eating it.

* * *

The credits to "La Casa de Guadalupe" started rolling, signaling the end of the episode that Serpci and Johnny had watched.

The two ghosts were still on the couch, bawling their eyes out after having witnessed the tragic death of Romero.

"He was such a good man! He didn't deserve what that cruel hearted bitch did to him!" Serpci roared through the tears, angered at the man's fate.

Johnny had his head in his hands, crying as well. "He was so cool! He deserved way more, man! Way more…"

The two hugged each other as they cried, sharing in each other's grief over the tragedy. After a while, they started to calm down, their sobbing reduced to sniveling as they wiped away the tears on their faces.

The pharaoh, after composing herself, turned towards the swimmer. "Johnny, if you tell anyone about this, I will replace all of the water in your pool in sand while your inside it."

"And if you tell anyone, I'll wrap you into a bow and leave you in the boilerworks."

"I am glad we have reached an understanding with each other."

The two of them sighed, before they realized they had forgotten what they were doing before watching the novela.

Their memories were jogged when Kruller and the triplets slammed the door open, remote in one of the latter's hand.

"We have it!"

Everyone cheered as they all took their seat on the couch, Lindsey changing the channel towards the one with the wrestling match. They made it just as the announcer started announcing the figth.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen! The moment you've all been waiting for!"

* * *

Gloria was still rummaging around in her wig, trying to see what else they had hidden in there. She pulled out a rather odd-looking tube with the Doctors insignia engraved at the base. Examining it, she noticed a button, and having nothing better to do, she pressed it.

The lights of the entire hotel suddenly increased in intensity. After a few seconds, the lights in the hotel all went out, and by extension the electricity. Even from the outside, one could hear the loud "NOOOOOOO" from six ghosts.


End file.
